Just Love
by Iellix
Summary: Sora and Riku. A short story about love, but not about romance. Firstperson narrated by Riku.


Well since posting that first story in forever I've decided that while I might not be able to commit to long stories, I can commit to short ones. One-shots or maybe a little four- or five-chaptered ficlet here and there. I can do that. They'll probably all be Riku-Zephyr though, even though I've always been so nervous about posting things with Zephyr because she's still, technically speaking, a Mary-Sue. She's ended up with one of the canon characters, which is Mary-Sue compatible just about everywhere.

Anyway, enough of my ranting, I have a story to write! Which happens NOT to involve Zephyr!

Summary: There is love between Sora and Riku. Nobody in the world can deny that. But this is the _real_ story of their love. Because it's just love, not romance. Told from Riku's point of view, in first person.

Disclaimer: CRUD I forgot to put it in my last story! Okay, so I'm double disclaiming. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the Disney characters, locations, etc… All I own is Zephyr. And, at this exact moment, a case of searing heartburn…

0…0…0…0…0

I watch him from the beach. I used to do it so I could keep an eye on him in case he got hurt, or fell into the water or something. Sora is not as careful as he should be. Now he doesn't need me keeping an eye on him but I do it still, anyway. Just out of habit. He's off on that tiny little islet with the crooked palm tree, practicing his swordsmanship. He doesn't need to but it's still fun for him. We still spar, sometimes. Just for fun. Because we're…

And then I wonder—what in the world are we anyway? To say we're friends is a gross understatement, it doesn't do Sora and his almost painful loyalty justice. Even a "friend" would have been apprehensive about joining me again after I succumbed to the Darkness. Twice. And yet Sora believes. He has that childlike purity about him despite everything that's happened. He still lives with the idealistic, childish belief that people—all people—are basically and fundamentally good inside.

And that's what makes him strong. He won't give up, he won't leave without finishing what he started. Maybe that's what kept me from completely losing myself to the Darkness. Knowing that Sora believed that I had good left in me.

To say we're friends is an insulting understatement. But what other words are there? Zephyr, having internalized the entire dictionary, would most likely be able to give me a good word for it, but she's off trying to let the hem out of Kairi's dress, insisting that she either get a longer skirt or wear an overcoat.

So what _is_ Sora to me? We're too close to just be "friends." Some people would say we're like brothers, but that's not really accurate either. I've never met brothers that weren't constantly trying to beat the other one up, or get the other into trouble. Me and Sora compete all the time, but we don't fight. Unless it's all in good fun. Brothers tend to resent one another, thinking that Mom liked one better than the other, or that the other was out to get him.

We couldn't be brothers, I don't think. I respect him far too much to look down on him like a silly younger brother, the way that I used to. Far too much.

So we're not simply "friends," but we're not really "like brothers," either. What _are_ we? Being the deep, thinking type, I actually mull these things over. Sora thinks about them for a few minutes, and then gets distracted by something shiny. So it's up to me to determine what in the world we are. Even though it's not really important—sometimes words are hard to come by and simply don't do emotions or feelings or even people justice.

But then again I've got plenty of time. Sora is full of energy and will probably be swinging that stupid wooden sword until it gets dark and we'll end up sleeping in the shack in sleeping bags. Again. I don't really have to wait here for him but I'd feel weird if I just left him here, especially if he ended up staying the night. He might try to come back to the island proper by himself, and at night it's dangerous. I feel like I have to look out for him, like no matter how old he gets or how independent he really is, it's still going to be my responsibility to make sure he's all right.

It's not so much an obligation, like I _have_ to take care of him—it's more my own choice, that I can't stand the thought of something bad happening to him when I could've prevented it. I still feel like everything we've been through in the last few years is all my fault, something I could have prevented. I keep believing that there had to have been something I could have done to keep us all safe. Even though, in the end, we're all better off because of everything.

I guess you would call that "love."

It's weird. I guess I never really thought about it that way. "Love" I used to assume was something you felt for your family or… the person you were currently sleeping with. I don't think I've ever really thought about love between friends. Not the romantic love, not the hand-holding and strolling along a beach in the moonlight kind of love. I think for a while there were rumours going around that there was that sort of relationship between Sora and I, probably because we've always been so close. People jump to all kinds of conclusions about it.

But I guess however you try to look at it, it's love. That's really the only way to describe it. Even though it feels a little weird to try and think of it like that, in a way it's not really so strange. That's how I feel about Sora, and he probably feels the same way about me. It's love, not romance.

He hasn't run out of steam yet. I'm comfy where I am, though. I have something to read and I can keep an eye on him. I won't leave him here on his own.

There's a "flop" on the ground next to me and Kairi is there. She's put on a longer skirt.

"You'll probably be out here all night if you're waiting for Sora," she says.

"Probably," I agree. She knows both of us really well. "Ah well, not that big a deal. It's not like it'll be the first time it's happened. It won't be the last."

"You really don't _have_ to stay out here with him, you know."

"I know. But I just don't feel right with the idea of leaving him to fend for himself all night long. And if I leave it up to him, he'll probably try to take the raft back to the mainland in the dark."

Kairi says nothing and for a few minutes we just watch him. Then she slowly, almost carefully, asks, "You really do love him, don't you?"

Pause. "Yea. I do."

Kairi smiles. She understands and is satisfied with our short conversation. She walks off, probably to get a move on back home before it gets too dark. Sora's still out there swinging his sword around. I've resigned that I'll be spending the night in a drafty wooden shack in a sleeping bag.

I guess people do things like this for the people they love.

"Hey, Riku."

The voice is unexpected and it startles me. It's Sora. I must've spaced out a little. I hadn't noticed that he'd left the little islet.

"You ready to get going?" He asks.

"Yea, sure," I say. "I thought you weren't finished yet."

"It won't hurt to quit early. Besides, you look tired. You'd stay out here all night if I did."

There's a moment of eye contact but no words are spoken. I don't think they have to be. He gets it, I get it. Whether it has a name or not is really insignificant.

But I guess… that's what love's about.

0…0…0…0…0

I'm preparing to be brutally attacked by the hoards of SoRiku fans. And flamed. But I dunno, I guess I wanted to make a happy medium between SoRiku and non-SoRiku. There's love there, everybody knows that there's love—it's just not romantic love. It's friendship love. It's how I feel about _my_ best friend—love but not romance.

Anyway, I'm going to use this little space down here to leave it up to you lot whether I write/post any more Zephyr fics. Bear in mind they would be Zephyr/Riku and _only_ Zephyr/Riku—no more mashing so many couples into a story! Egad, that was hard to keep up with sometimes. I'm interested in writing about the two of them, since they didn't have solo screen time before. But I remember getting some flames and complaints and such about Zephyr and all, and because she's an OC/MarySue, I'm going to leave it up to you to decide if you'd like some more Zephyr stories.

And now I shall plead for your reviews. Feed me, Seymour, feed me.


End file.
